'Democracy' Brings Bleak Days to Iraq

BAGHDAD - Many Iraqis see dismal days ahead in the face of rising violence
and the decision by the U.S. government not to seek any further funds for reconstruction.

"It is obvious that the situation is much worse than it used to be,"
retired army general Ahmed Abdul Aziz told IPS. "Can you walk free in the
streets? Did you receive your food ration last month? It is essential for most
Iraqis to receive the food ration just to feed their families."

The former Iraqi general added: "When you go to the hospital, do you find
medicines? The answer is no medicines, no services, no sheets or pillows, no
beds, no nursing, and no ambulances to carry you from your house."

World Bank president and former U.S. deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz
had said Iraq could "really finance its own reconstruction." But such
words have fallen flat because the state of the infrastructure is clearly worse
now than even during the harsh economic sanctions of the 1990s.

As the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq approaches, a study
by Linda Bilmes at Harvard University and Dr. Joseph Stiglitz at Columbia University
found that "the total economic costs of the war, including direct costs
and macroeconomic costs, lie between 1 trillion and 2 trillion dollars."
A trillion is a thousand billion.

This money has done little for Iraq. The situation on the ground remains dire,
with estimates of unemployment at 70 percent.

"My three sons have graduated from college, yet they still cannot find
decent jobs because there are no jobs available," former deputy minister
for trade Dr. Abdul Hadi told IPS.

The Saddam regime "did not allow any of the graduates to be without jobs,"
he said. Now there is even a severe shortage of teachers in the universities.

"I will not be satisfied until I find that all the people have the will
to rebuild their country instead of humiliating their brothers," said Dr.
Hadi. "I want to tell [U.S. President George] Bush that he has destroyed
our country for at least the next 25 years. He is the greatest terrorist, Arabs
can never forget."

People have no recourse to law anymore. "We are not living in a proper
way," restaurant owner Qassim Abdul Hamed told IPS. "We are suffering
at the hands of those who come in their vehicles just to have meals free of
charge."

The restaurant has to go on serving free meals to the Iraqi police, he said.
"We can't say a word because they have guns."

And the free meals have to be served when the cost of food has risen due to
fuel shortages. "There have been scuffles in the restaurant, which we have
not seen before," Hamed said.

Munaim Abid Hassan, a 22-year-old waitress at the restaurant, said she is working
to feed 12 people in her family, since she was the only one with a job.

"We used to love the American people, but not anymore," she said.
"Hatred is spreading all over now, and everyone wants revenge on them.
You [Bush] are bringing disasters to the people of your own country, not only
to Iraqis."

With 2,206 U.S. soldiers killed so far, and more than 100 attacks on coalition
forces every day, occupation forces appear unable to protect either themselves
or Iraqis. Under the Geneva Conventions, it is the responsibility of the occupying
power to provide security for citizens.

"The Americans destroyed everything in Iraq," Gen. Aziz said. "I
think every Iraqi should weep all his life over what is going on. Bush should
be among the greatest terrorists along with his colleagues in Britain, because
they are all criminals who have killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis."

Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Dahr Jamail writes about the
effects of the US occupation on the people of Iraq, since the mainstream
media in the US has in large part, he believes, failed to do so.

Dahr has spent a total of 5 months in occupied Iraq, and plans
on returning in October to continue reporting on the occupation.
One of only a few independent reporters in Iraq, Dahr will be using
the DahrJamailIraq.com
website and mailing list to disseminate his dispatches and will
continue as special correspondent for Flashpoints Radio.

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